Refrigerator construction



July 28, 1925.

1,547,423 H. C. LEONARD ET AL REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet.1

Filed Jan. 4, 1925 enb Inuenfors Harr CLaonmd fi'lbu Tom j Patented July28, 1925.

1,547,423 PATENT OFFICE...

HARRY C. LEONARD AND ALBERT TANGENBERG, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, AS-LIGNORS TO GRAND RAPIDS REFRIGERATOR COMPANY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHI-GAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

REFRIGERATOR CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed January 4, 1923. Serial No. 610,721.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY C. LEONARD and ALBERT TANGI'INBERG, citizensof the United States of America, residing at Grand Rapids, in the countyof Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Refrigerator Constructions; and we do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of'theinvention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

This invention relates to a refrigerator construction and is moreparticularly concerned with a device adapted to be mounted at the frontof the ice chamber in refrigerators and which may be turned down to asubstantially horizontal position when the ice chamber door is opened,allowing free entrance of ice into the. chamber, being turned upwardlyto a substantially vertical position, after which the door is closed,there being a seal made which prevents any escape of cold air at thelower edge portions of the door with a consequent condensation ofmoisture on the front of the refrigerator below the door, suchcondensation being very injurious to the structure and tending to causeopening of joints in the wood and rapid deterioration of the finish andconstruction of the refrigerator at the front. It is a primaryobject andpurpose of the present invention to provide a construction fully capableof practically attaining the above stated ends, and one which is simplein structure and strong and durable so as to withstand the heavy serviceto which it maybe subjected, such as the heavy weights of ice that maybe applied to the structure when the ice is being placed in the icechamber, and the shocks, jars and the like coming from the depositing ofthe ice thereon at such times. Many other objects and purposes thanthose stated will appear fully and in detail as understanding of theinvention is had from the following description, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawing, in which,-

Fig. l is a fragmentary vertical section through the ice chamber orcompartment of a refrigerator, having our invention applied thereto andwith the same open'to receive 1ce.

Fig. 2 is a like view with the ice compartment closed and the lowerportion of the.

door sealed against the escape of the cold air at its edges.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken substantially on theplane of line 3-3, of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a like section on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the device ator is of usual andconventional construe-- tion, having a door opening 5'therein for afront entrance to the ice compartment, and this opening is closed bya-door 6 of well known construction, including in its structure a backplate 7, though, of course the specific construction of the door may bewidely varied in so far as the present invention is concerned. At theback part of the door opening 5 an inwardly extending vertical, rib 8 islocated at each side from the upper side of the opening and extendsnearly to the bottom thereof.

A member 9, substantially rectangular in shape, and of wood, preferably,has a back cover plate of sheet metal 10 applied thereto, being bentforward adjacent its upper and lower edges to fit against the upper andlower edges of the member 9. At the upper edge, the metal is off-setslightly for the insertion of the edge portions of a piece of fabric, orthe like 11 thereunder, said fabric.

being folded longitudinally at its middle so as tomake a pro ecting loopwhich projects forward of the front side of the member 9. Nails 12 and12 passed through the parts of the metal back 10 bent over the upperedges of the member 9 serve to fix said back in place, at the same timetaching the part 11.

Under the back 10 and at the lower part of the member 9, a second sheetmetal member 13 is located, it being formed with an inpermanentlyatseats in a recess made in the back of memher 9 transversely thereof.This loop 14 is made near the upper edge of the member 13 which, belowthe loop is extended to the lower edge of member 9 and then turnedforward thereunder, being secured by nails 12* at the same-time. thelower part of the back 10 is secured. A rod 15 lies in the loop 14 andin front of the back 10, at its ends extending beyond the sides of themember 9, each end of the rod being turned forward at right angles, asindicated at 16. The arms 16 thus formed are inserted in the back of thefront 4 of the refrigerator at each side of the door opening, as shownin Fig. 4:.

The rod 15 is located near the lower edge of the member 9 so that but arelatively short portion of said member extends below the rod when themember is in vertical position in the refrigerator (see Fig. 2). Arecess, indicated at 17 is provided for the reception of the lower endof the member, in front of which is an upwardly projecting ledge 18.When the door 6 is opened, and the member turned forwardly tosubstantially horizontal position, the member 9 bears against the upperedge of this ledge which serves as a solid abutment therefor, making afirm rest so that the member, in conjunction with the relatively strongrod 15, is amply-strong to withstand the weight, shocks and jars whichcome from placing the ice therein as it is being put into the icecompartment, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

When the ice is in the compartment, the member is elevated to verticalposition, its back, adjacent its vertical edges coming against theinwardly projecting vertical ribs 8 and the front side of the member9-at its lower portion coming against the back of the ledge 18. At thesame time, the back plate 7 of the door bears against the loop 11, asshown in Fig. 2. It is apparent that in this position the cold air fromthe ice chamber is entirely out off and insulated from the lower part ofthe door and that none of it can escape at the lower edge of the door orat the lower portions of the vertical side edges of thedoor. This is avery valuable feature, particularly where refrigerators are used inplaces having humid atmospheres, cold air escaping downwardly, as is itsnatural tendency, past the lower edges of the ice chamber door, servingto condense moisture from the air on the front of the refrigerator door,which is injurious to the finish of the refrigerator and destructive toglued joints. Moreover, inmany refrigerators, below the ice chamber doorthere is another door for entrance into a lower provision compartment,and the condensation and accumulation of moisture immediately above suchadditional door is very undesirable occurrence, causing such door toswell and stick in its door opening, and alsobeing destructive to thedoor and the joints in the front of the refrigerator adjacent the dooropening. y

In addition, the member, when in horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1serves as a protector against chips or small pieces of ice lodging atthe lower part of the door opening, and facilitates the entrance of theice into the ice chamber, very practical, can be manufactured withlittle additional cost, is durable, and in the course of very severepractical test has proved fully capable of sustaining all of the claimsof advantage above stated. The claims appended define the invention, andall forms of construction .coming within their scope are to beconsidered as comprehended by the invention.

We claim:

1. In a refrigerator construction, an ice chamber having afront theretoprovided with a door opening, a door adapted to close the opening, amember pivotally mounted to turn on a horizontal axisto'either verticalor substantially horizontal position, said pivotal axis being located atthe lower side of the door opening, an inwardly extending vertical ribat each side of the door opening against which said member bears when invertical position, and yielding means at the upper edge of the member tobear against the back of the door when the door is closed and the memberis in vertical position, the lower portion of said member below itspivot bearing against the rear side of the front of the refrigeratorbelow the door opening when said member is in vertical position.

2. In 'a refrigerator construction, an ice chamber having a frontthereto provided with a door opening, a doorfor closing the opening, amember pivotally mounted back of the door and adjacent the lower portionof and within the opening to turn to either' vertical or substantiallyhorizontal position, in horizontal position bearing against theloweredge of the door opening and being supported thereby to serve as asupport for the passage of ice thereover to the ice chamber, an inwardlyvertical extending rib at each side of the door opening against whichsaid member bears when in vertical position, yieldin" means at theupperedge of the member extending forward therefrom to bear against the backof the door when the door is closed and the member is in verticalposition, said member having a portion extending below its pivot when invertical position and bearing against the rear portion of the front ofthe refrigerator below the door opening.

a 3. In a refrigerator construction, an ice chamber having a frontthereto provided with a door opening, a door for closing the opening, amember having a width substan- This construction is tially equal to thewidth of the door opening and a height less than the opening pivotallymounted to turn on a horizontal axis located between the vertical sidesof the door opening back of the door and adjacent the lower edgethereof, a vertical rib extending inwardly from each vertical side ofthe door opening against which said member bears when in verticalposition, said member when turned to horizontal position bearing againstthe lower side of the door opening and forming a support for the icepassed into the ice chamber, and means at the upper edge of said memberagainst which the rear side ofthe door engages when said member is invertical position and the door is closed.

' 4. In a refrigerator construction, an ice chamber having a frontprovided with a door opening having a horizontal ledge at its lower sideand a recess back of the ledge, a member having a width substantiallyequal to the width of the door opening, means for pivotally mountingsaid member to turn on a horizontal axis at a point slightly above andback of said ledge whereby when in vertical position the front sideofthe member at its lower portion bears against the rear side of the ledgeand that portion of the member below its pivot is received in saidrecess and when in horizontal position rests against said ledge, avertical rib at each side of the door opening projecting inwardlytherefrom against which the inner side of said member v bears when invertical position, and yielding means at the upper end of the memberagainstovhich the rear side of the door bears when the door is closedand said member is ,in vertical position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof w afiix our-signatures.

HARRY o. LEONARD. ALBERT TANGENBERG;

